“I do. But she doesn’t. She got back with her ex-fiancé tonight.”
Finn twisted, aiming his scrutinizing gaze at Cord. “If you love her, nothing is more important. Not your job. Not your location. And especially not your pride.”
Cord finally understood the term dumbstruck. He was so shocked to hear Finn’s advice, he couldn’t respond.
“Have you told her?” Finn asked.
“Uh… not exactly.”
“That would be a no. What are you waiting for?”
“Just a minute. Aren’t you the guy who swore he was never getting married? Seems like you’re giving the opposite advice to me.”
Finn sagged against the fence, staring ahead. “Cord, you probably don’t realize this, but I have cystic fibrosis.”
“What does that mean?” he asked, though he was afraid to hear the answer.
“It means the life expectancy for someone like me is only thirty-seven years.” Finn climbed to his feet and dusted off his jeans. “But if I were healthy, like you, I wouldn’t let anything stand between me and the woman I love.”
“Oh.” He wanted to say something more, but what could he say? Should he rant about how unfair life is? Should he offer a trite everything-works-out-for-the-best?
“I’d better go. They’ve got the ambulance pulled up to the gate. And the dragon-lady is giving me the evil-eye,” said Finn, his eyes crinkling in the corners. “Let me know what they find at the hospital.”
“About my job. I guess I’ll—”
“Don’t worry. Whatever happens, we’ll work something out.” Finn waved as he strolled away, stopping to speak to Mandy.
“Looks like my ambulance is ready,” called Mason as he passed by on his litter. “I’ll see you at the hospital.”
Cord shivered at the thought. His memories of the hospital were of his dad hooked up to wires and tubes like a science experiment. “I don’t like hospitals,” he mumbled under his breath.
“Cord Dennison!” a familiar voice called. “You’d better be dead. Because if you’re not, I’m going to kill you.”
Nick’s joke had Cord smiling for the first time since he woke up.
“Maybe you should wait to see whether I’m dead or not before you tease me about it.”
“I’d know if you were dead. This is Sage Valley.” Nick loomed over him with a jovial expression. “There’s no patient privacy here. Half the people here are watching through the fence, and the other half are listening to the PA system broadcast your health updates to the rodeo grounds and three surrounding counties.”
The laugh Cord couldn’t suppress wracked his body with stabs of pain. “Ow! You really are killing me.”
“It’s payback for screwing up my sister.” Nick sat beside him, propped against the fence. “She’s on a bench by the spiced pecan stand, crying her eyes out, and I can’t get her to come in here and talk to you.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Had Parker upset her? Cord would chase the man down and pommel him into the ground… if only someone would help him stand up.
“She’s a woman,” Nick said, as if that explained everything. “She said something about your injury being all her fault and how you must hate her now.” He scrunched his shoulders, sheepishly. “Could be because I told her you saw her with Parker.”
The puzzle pieces fell into place—Jess felt guilty about her choice.
If I coerce her into choosing me over Parker, I’m no better than him.
“Tell her I respect her decision,” Cord said, trying to convince himself, as well as Nick. “Tell her if Parker’s who she really wants, I’m happy for her.”
Speaking the words out loud made him want to throw up.
“Are you sure that’s what you want me to say?” Nick flashed a twisted grin.
“Not when you’re wearing a smirk the size of your ego,” Cord said. “What am I missing?”